Saved to serve

Neung (L) & Lawrence (R)

I met Lawrence for the first time on Sunday at the Chiang Dao Bakery Church.  12 years ago he was holidaying at Koh Lanta on the Andaman coast of Thailand on the day that the Tsunami hit.  He didn't understand what was happening when the water receded and neither did anyone else.  But he was praying asking God what to do and he heard an audible voice from behind him saying in Swiss for him to flee.  When he turned around there was no one there apart from American and French tourists.  He knew that the voice was from God and he told everyone he could that they needed to flee.  Only some listened.  He went to the restaurant and gathered two bottles of water into his bag and prepared to go when a Thai woman grabbed his arm and painfully dug her fingers into his arm in a iron grip.  He was about to hit her with his free hand and as he swung his hand was stopped mid flight and he couldn't move his hand any further.  He politely asked the woman in Swiss to let go of his arm and she complied and he was able to let his other arm down.  It was God again working to stop him from doing the wrong thing.  He fled about 300m from the beach when he heard the rushing surge of the waves, smashing the coconut tree with a loud popping sound. 

He was miraculously saved that day 12 years ago and every year Lawrence returns to Thailand each year to spend about 2 months going around the country telling people of the God who saved him.  For many years, he has been coming to drink coffee at Neung's bakery in Chiang Dao and he would give him the postcard with some Bible verses and pray for him.  This year it was different as found out that God had answered his prayers and that Neung had become a Christian.  

Lawrence speaks rudimentary Thai but he has a big heart and love which can speak wonders of the God he serves.